And The Winners Are..

Count me among those who stayed up until 11:41 last night which is when the 83rd Academy Awards came to a close. It was one of the more uneventful Oscar broadcasts, partly because there were no real surprises and partly because I thought the co-hosts were pretty bland. Anne Hathaway and James Franco both looked good but that was about it as they really brought nothing to the table. She was better than him but that’s not saying much because he was lost. Proof of this might be that 8-time host Billy Crystal received a standing ovation when he was introduced as a presenter and the show missed his kind of talent. There was one interesting moment and that came when Supporting Actress winner Melissa Leo dropped an “f bomb” during her acceptance speech which was bleeped-out in time but was referenced several times during the show.

It is not surprising that Dave Calloway will not return as basketball coach following Monmouth University’s fifth straight losing season but the swiftness of the decision caught some off guard. Less than 24 hours after finishing a 9-21 season university president Paul Gaffney II announced that Calloway had resigned but later in the day the 14-year head coach said it was not his choice which means he was asked to resign. Calloway, who is a Monmouth lifer has been offered another position at the school but would like to coach again and might take some time before making a decision. Meanwhile the Hawks need to find someone who can win some games and put fans in the seats because the most exciting night of the season at the MAC came Friday when Raritan beat Rumson in the Shore Conference Tournament finale.

Not exactly the most exciting day of wrestling but Saturday’s Region 6 Championships at the Poland Spring Arena did produce some interesting results and stories…none better than at 103 pounds where Anthony D’Anton became Monsignor Donovan’s first region champ since 1985. D’Anton was originally the top seed in his weight class until officials realized they had made a mistake and dropped him to fifth but it did not matter as he not only won a region title but collected the Outstanding Wrestler award. D’Anton had a large and loud rooting section led by his Mother and his victory was clearly one of the highlights of the weekend which lacked the star power of recent years but saw Kyle Casaletto of Southern win his third Region title and Toms River South produce a pair of champions in Kevin Corrigan and B.J. Clagon.
Jackson Memorial’s Doug Withstandley was named Region 6 coach of-the-year and his Jaguars finished third in the final New Jersey Coaches Poll behind High Point and South Plainfield.